Did I !!!! myself by not applying for a money transfer offer?

theone999

theone999 wrote: »

What do I put for income? I'm self employed and sometimes also work from home and my income as worked out by my accountant is very low.

This is why I don't dare apply for anything. I've just waited for the banks to offer me something to which I can just say yes. But this time I didn't know what they were offering me and I !!!!ed myself by not taking up the offer?

If you were to ask about my credit history, in 12 years I have never went over any overdrafts or credit limits or had DD rejected and only once did a credit card transaction bounce because I forgot how much was on the card. I on r had a reducing overdraft from 1 of my 3 banks which I now no longer borrow from because they were !!!!! calling it on despite me never gone over limit, they did say on the phone that it wouldn't affect my credit score. It was fully paid off last year and took about 3 years.

Part of the reason why I'm so sad and angry that HSBC is going to double my overdraft EAR next April because they're not allowed to charge people more for unauthorised overdrafts now.

Ben8282 wrote: »

Would money transfer not have affected my credit score

The money transfer would not have adversely affected your ability to obtain credit. Your credit score is meaningless so any effect that the money transfer may or may not have had is not important.
As from your above replies it appears that you don't ever actually apply for credit I am curious as to why you are so concerned about your meaningless credit score anyway.

could I have used successive money transfer from the credit card into current account to pay off the higher APR of 23% already on the credit card?

Within the offer period yes you could. You could also have used the money transfer offer to repay the overdraft which will be having a detrimental effect on your ability to obtain credit, far more than the existance of a balance on your credit card.

my income as worked out by my accountant is very low.

If your income is very low do you really need to pay an accountant to work it out for you?

Thanks for answering my original questions clearly. I've been feeling !!!! all day after realising it at 3 in the morning but just needed someone to confirm.

I thought an arranged overdraft was fine?

I'm afraid if my credit score falls too low the banks will ask for their money back. It happened to 1 of the 3 I used to be borrow from.

Yes, I need an accountant to help me. He knows how to deduct business expenses and how to do taxes. I don't have a clue and he tells me that his services also count as an expense so won't be taxed.

[Deleted User]

theone999 wrote: »

I'm afraid if my credit score falls too low the banks will ask for their money back. It happened to 1 of the 3 I used to be borrow from.

Only if you phone them up and tell them all your scores.

And assuming they don't tell you to stop bothering them once they've finished laughing.

[Deleted User]

I don’t know how many more times you have to be told that your “credit score” isn’t a factor used in lending or indeed seen by lenders?

Maybe one more time?

theone999

!!! wrote: »

I don’t know how many more times you have to be told that your “credit score” isn’t a factor used in lending or indeed seen by lenders?

Maybe one more time?

So how does say Tesco bank, which I have no prior contact with decides whether or not to lend to me? Halifax would have the last 10 years history, most of it me making them money.

Ben8282

theone999 wrote: »

So how does say Tesco bank, which I have no prior contact with decides whether or not to lend to me? Halifax would have the last 10 years history, most of it me making them money.

They will see the account conduct history in your credit files and will base their decision on this and other factors such as amount of current debt, salary and other things. They will not base their decision on a third party 'score' from a third party who has no idea of many factors again such as salary etc

abc.xyz

!!! wrote: »

No they don't.
There is no "universal credit score" or otherwise.

True. But I also think it's very unhelpful to tell somebody - particularly if they're new to MSE/Credit Reports - that they don't have a credit score, or their credit score is useless, without actually explaining what you mean. Many people conflate their credit score with their actual report/history, so it's confusing to be told that.

OP: You do have a credit score for each credit reference agency (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion). However, your credit scores are only seen by you. Lenders do not see them, and they do not influence your chances of getting credit. Each lender uses their own lending criteria based on your balances/debt, payment history, application history, etc. However, your scores should not be completely ignored as any sudden dip with no obvious reason could indicate an issue on your credit file that you should investigate.

Barney_Rubble_0403

Even though a credit score is only seen by you, a low credit score for the most part will indicate something is wrong.

Therefore looking at your credit history will give you theanswers and it what lenders will use to make decisions, plus their own set of criteria such as wages which don't form part of your credit history.

Maxed out on credit cards, living in overdraft and missed payments, defaults or no history at all is all a killer.

theone999

abc.xyz wrote: »

True. But I also think it's very unhelpful to tell somebody - particularly if they're new to MSE/Credit Reports - that they don't have a credit score, or their credit score is useless, without actually explaining what you mean. Many people conflate their credit score with their actual report/history, so it's confusing to be told that.

OP: You do have a credit score for each credit reference agency (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion). However, your credit scores are only seen by you. Lenders do not see them, and they do not influence your chances of getting credit. Each lender uses their own lending criteria based on your balances/debt, payment history, application history, etc. However, your scores should not be completely ignored as any sudden dip with no obvious reason could indicate an issue on your credit file that you should investigate.

Ah thank you, the first person on the subject of credit scores to make sense.

I don't think Halifax has any incentive to help me now that the card is maxed out
But do you think its worth a ring to their credit card department next year once I've reduced it to the level it was when I got the offer to ask if they could offer me it again because I was too stupid to realise what it was?

My priority next year isn't to reduce my Halifax credit borrowing to zero (they've offered me limit increases and other special offers like the one gone that I was too stupid to realise was free money). Its to pay off my HSBC overdraft, currently it costs me about 400 per year as I'm constantly 2k avg overdrawn for most of the past decade they've made probably a £3k profit on interest so far since I stopped being a student. By next April it will charge me 800 per year at 40 EAR.

HSBC have asked whether I would like to apply for a credit card in the past, a cashier asked me presumably because it was flagged on computer. But I didn't go for it. I asked that they preapprove a credit card at the same level as my overdraft so that I could close it and they said no.

Maybe I need to make a new thread for this but there was something in the communique from the FCA regarding the changes to overdrafts that caused HSBC and Nationwide to charge 40% that they should identity customers who constantly live on their overdraft who would pay more under the changes and to "help and treat them fairly", what ever that means.

Is there any other way I could borrow without declaring an income? I mean I do have one, but its not that big and I am spending a significant amount of money after rent / utilities / food on interest.

To start to make a dent in my outgoings, the most immediate thing I could do after cancelling Netflix is to switch off the heating for the rest of the winter. Another thing that could take more time is reducing the amount I spend on food. Today I spent £10 in fast food as I travel for work all the time.

[Deleted User]

They will look at your credit history and account conduct.

As for borrowing without declaring an income - no lender in their right mind would do that.

You have to specify your income.

You really need to start cutting back sensibly in your outgoings if you’re permanently living out your overdraft.

[Deleted User]

theone999 wrote: »

Is there any other way I could borrow without declaring an income?

Backstreet lenders would be your only option, but the rates and consequences for missed payments are high.

But the good news is it seems there's scope for cutting back on your costs.